Genderbent Into Love
by Onion Jester
Summary: ShixIza. BoyxBoy. Izaya is cursed to turn into a girl by day and back to his original male form at night. His encounters with the people of Ikebukuro become humourous as he and Shizuo look for a spell-breaker. But just what kind of a spell-breaker is it?
1. What is this Witchcraft?

**Summary**

Orihara Izaya has romantic feelings for Heiwajima Shizuo in the depths of his subconscious, but refuses to admit it. Further, the strongman is still hunting him down, so he needs some sort of defense against Shizuo. After learning of a chat-bot website that grants any wish, he attempts it for fun - wishing there was something that can save him from a terrible death by Shizuo. Ironically, Izaya turns into a girl the next morning. This curse that suddenly came upon him will lead him into a mess of hilarious and romantic encounters – especially with Shizuo.

**Chapter One: What is This Witchcraft?**

Ikebukuro followed its usual routine every day. Everyone was back to normal since the Yellow Scarves disbanded. But, it cannot be said that the district was at peace and quiet.

Every now and then, Heiwajima Shizuo would spot Orihara Izaya somewhere and throw something ridiculously heavy at him. In the end, the crafty informant would escape – leaving an irritated bartender-bodyguard. It_ is_ thrilling in a way, Izaya thought, running away from a horrible beating. Or maybe it was also his envy for Shizuo which slowly turned to admiration – it's a secret that he vowed he would never tell. After all, all humans love him and he loves them in return, except for Shizuo…or so he thought.

Even though there were too many close calls for his liking, Izaya loved picking on Shizuo. The bartender grew on him ever since the day Shinra introduced them. But, this touchy-feely, _romantic_ emotion was just too foreign for him – it's demeaning for his pride after all. So, he crammed this unrequited romance deep into his subconscious.

He was still hell bent on awakening Celty's head, which he believes will take him to the glorious Norse Heaven, Valhalla, when he does. However, there is always a chance that this plan would not work out so well. So, deep down in his subconscious, Izaya considered a second goal in life which was forcefully emerging up to his daily thoughts: trying to fall in love. These new romantic feelings are as unpredictable as Shizuo. So he hates them for that reason. Eventually, it got too confusing; too uncomfortable. He swatted away those thoughts and resumed being chased by Shizuo rather than chasing him.

"Wait right there, asshat! IZAYAAA!" Shizuo wrenched off a road sign to serve as his weapon. While chasing down the black-coated figure in the distance, he spun the road sign around violently. "Damn you! I'm going to kill you for good this time!"

"That's what you said last time," Izaya chuckled back while swerving a corner.

"You little PEST!" When Shizuo dashed around the corner too, he stopped in his tracks. He ended up in a less noisy street, but Izaya was nowhere to be found – he lost him again. "Damn it, you bastard!"

III

"Phew! What a workout," Izaya laughed away his exhaustion.

He stumbled into his apartment and sprawled himself out over the couch.

"I hate to admit it, but I wish there was some sort of defense against that Shizu-chan sometimes." He exhaled deeply and fanned himself with his hand.

III

It was a little past midnight. The lights in Izaya's apartment were the only ones still lit. The crafty man sat before his laptop, visiting forums out of boredom, like usual. On a side window, he opened a chat with Celty and Mikado. By now, they knew who was behind which screen name. Regardless, they played along like nothing happened.

[Mikado] Tanaka-Tarou: Hey! There's a rumour going around at my school that there's a really fishy website that is said to grant your wishes.

[Celty] Setton: Eh, really? How so?

[Izaya] Kanra: LOL No way! OAO It must be a scam.

[Mikado] Tanaka-Tarou: Apparently, people at my school have tried it, but they got something totally unexpected along with their wish.

[Celty] Setton: What do you mean 'unexpected'?

[Mikado] Tanaka-Tarou: Well, I overheard a classmate say that she wished to find her long lost father again.

[Izaya] Kanra: Uh huh?

[Mikado] Tanaka-Tarou: And she really did find him again! But, the police had to dig him out from the ground. It was that mystery case.

[Celty] Setton: Oh! How terrible! Yeah…now I remember - I saw it on the news.

[Izaya] Kanra: Huh, you sure it wasn't just a fluke?

[Mikado] Tanaka-Tarou: No, it's the talk of my school. People have been going to that website and getting unexpected results from their wishes. Isn't it more than a coincidence?

[Izaya] Kanra: That IS fishy. How does the site work?

[Mikado] Tanaka-Tarou: You basically talk to a chat-bot named 'Circe'.

[Celty] Setton: Circe? Like the enchantress in Greek mythology? She is said to be a very tricky woman…she even transforms anyone who offends her into animals.

[Izaya] Kanra: My, you are very knowledgeable, Setton-san. ^_^

[Celty] Setton:…..

[Izaya] Kanra: Well, that was some interesting information. Anyway, I'm going to go sleep. I'm tired. Bye bye! ^o^

[Kanra has signed out]

"Circe, huh?" Izaya wore his cunning, devilish grin again and typed 'Circe chat-bot' into the search bar. "Let's see just how genuine this is," he muttered as he clicked the first site listed.

A beige parchment background plastered onto the screen; a drawing of a stunningly beautiful woman in flowing ivory robes loaded on the left side of the page. Her crystal blue eyes were animated to blink every so often. She held a golden chalice filled with a sparkling, rosy liquid in one hand. Once the page finished loading completely, a text box opened over her body.

"Welcome, guest. I am Circe, the enchantress residing on the isle of Aeaea. I grant one wish to every visitor." Her speech appeared above the text box in golden letters.

"Heh." Izaya sneered at the screen, then typed, "It could be any wish?"

"It could be any wish," the chat-bot responded.

"Looks like a regular chat-bot to me." He pouted in disappointment. "They're usually programmed to turn questions into sentences and vice versa. But can't handle complex phrases."

Still interested, he proceeded to talk more with Circe.

"I'm having trouble with a guy named Heiwajima Shizuo who's out to kill me. I wish there was some way I could defend myself against him without inflicting any harm to me."

He pressed the 'enter' button and waited for her answer. After a few seconds, she responded.

"How troublesome for you. There is a way to defend yourself against him without inflicting any harm to you. Very well, your wish is granted. Rest one night."

As Izaya finished reading the response, the internet disconnected and the disconnection message popped up. Even he was taken aback by the odd phenomena.

"How interesting." He chuckled. "It seems genuine enough." He closed his laptop and got up from his chair. "Geez, if only I wished instead for a meteor to drop on Shizu-chan's house…"

He walked over to the light switch and flicked it down. "…Just kidding!"

III

"Mmmmm…" Izaya stretched his arms over his head. He lazily got out of bed and drew the curtains to see the morning sun.

He walked into the small corridor connected to the bathroom and passed by the large mirror on the right wall. Letting out a yawn, he glanced at his reflection out of his periphery then proceeded to the bathroom.

But wait…he thought he saw a girl in the mirror. Groggily, he retraced his steps to the mirror; he could not believe his eyes. There he was in the reflection, but with a petite figure, black hair down to his shoulder blades, and cute small breasts. Not only that, but he was wearing female attire: He had the same trademark black jacket covering a black v-neck t-shirt, and black short shorts.

Izaya stared dumbfounded at his reflection. Now that he noticed, he was also about 5 inches shorter in height. He combed his fingers all the way through the long strands of his hair and poked his breasts twice.

"You-you've got to be…kidding." He stepped back from the mirror and stroked his throat in surprise. His voice was now in the female register. Without a thought, he pinched his cheeks hard. "Iz a dweam!"

Izaya's eyes shot wide open. Surely, it _was_ a dream and he breathed a sigh of relief. But just to make sure, he lazily groped around his chest; there were STILL TWO SMALL BREASTS. He sat up fast enough to swing his bed covers over; he looked down and found a slender pair of legs – cleanly shaven. Not to mention, there was more free space between his thighs now.

He began to sweat, and in a trembled, higher-pitched voice he managed to utter: "What is this witchcraft?"


	2. Experimentation Opportunity

**Author's Note: **No worries, people. There will be lots of Shizuo x Izaya love. So if you are not a fan of this pairing, just hit the backspace button and move on.

**Chapter Two: Experimentation Opportunity**

Izaya rummaged through his wardrobe; just like in his dream, it was entirely female attire. Reluctantly, he found the same outfit as in his dream, put it on, and exited his apartment. Once he got out into the street, he was about to pull his hood over his head but stopped halfway as a thought entered his mind.

"Would anyone actually recognize me?" Curious, he attempted the girliest skipping walk he could think of and pranced down the street; all the while staring at how he looked in the glass reflection of store windows.

"It shouldn't be a problem," he muttered to himself thoughtfully. "I play the part of a girl online anyway, so it shouldn't feel too foreign. I don't think anyone would recognize me either." Then his cunning smile plastered across his face. "Besides, I should use this as an experimentation opportunity."

To test his hypothesis, he strolled into Ikebukuro. He managed to pass by Dotachin and his gang without getting recognized. He also bumped into Simon who offered him a sushi pamphlet and called him "lovely young lady." Just for kicks, he asked him if he had any fatty tuna – the kind of sushi that Simon knew is Orihara Izaya's favorite. To his amusement, Simon seemed a little suspicious for a second, but shook it off smiling and told him that he did.

It was actually becoming more entertaining. None of the people who knew him seemed to recognize him at all – just as predicted. Then, he spotted the all-too-familiar figure of a bartender beyond the crowd of people. Just before Shizuo turned his head towards Izaya's direction, Izaya whirled around and began to jog away. Through the years, running away from Shizuo became a usual reflex.

Shizuo shuddered uncomfortably a little before darting his head everywhere.

"Th-this feeling," he grumbled as he clenched his fists.

The infamous strongman tilted his head to the right; a vein in his eye nearly burst when he saw a black coat with beige fur-lining running in the distance. All his concentration bent on chasing down Izaya, he dashed after him. He ripped out the nearest road sign when he was meters away from him.

"Where the shit do you think you're going, IZAYA?"

Izaya jolted a little at the roaring voice, but continued sprinting aimlessly. Innocent bystanders quickly got out of the way, letting the two run by.

Without thinking, the devious informant scurried into an alleyway. He sled to a stop when he noticed a giant white wall closed off the passage. His ears twitched at the hammering footsteps getting closer. He spun around just as Shizuo reached him.

"I found you, you little sh-" Shizuo paused when he got a closer look at Izaya.

Izaya raised an eyebrow, then remembered that his appearance is that of a girl now – which means Shizuo would not recognize him…probably. It was worth a try, he thought.

With the cutest voice he could utter, he appealed to him, "Um…Bartender-san, I think you must have mistaken me for someone. Please don't hurt me!"

"Wha-" Shizuo was taken aback for a moment, then resumed his deadly stance. "Cut the act, dumbass! Don't think you can fool me in a girl's getup! Even though it's-it's _well-done_," He growled as he eyed the informant from top to bottom.

Izaya frowned. This is why he absolutely _hated_ Shizuo – he just can't predict him at all. But somehow, inside his chest, it felt very warm and fuzzy. Letting out a sarcastic defeated sigh, he chuckled.

"How did you _ever_ recognize me?"

"I can smell your rotten stink two prefectures over." He clenched his teeth together and murderously pointed the now disfigured road sign at Izaya.

The informant took out his flickblade and swung it open with a provoking grin. He waited for Shizuo to dash at him; after a moment, Shizuo rushed at him and swung the road sign towards his body. Izaya ducked, subsequently leaping behind the bartender. Swiftly, Shizuo spun around to give momentum to his leg which drove right into Izaya's abdomen and sent him flying to the wall. Shizuo threw down the road sign, ran to the injured man, pinned his wrist to the wall and pinned his own hand onto his chest.

Shizuo was really about to give the other man a beating, but was alarmed at the feeling of something soft and warm in his hand.

"Eh?" He lightly squeezed Izaya's small breast. "This feels too real."

"Just what are you groping?" Izaya grumbled.

Shizuo flinched and let go of him, taking two steps back. He blinked in confusion.

"Nooo! Shizu-chan touched me in an inappropriate way! You have to take responsibility now!" He cried jokingly.

"What the hell are you– anyway, when the hell did you become a transvestite?" He flustered significantly.

Izaya tried to stifle a laugh but could not help letting it out. "Geez, you're an idiot, Shizu-chan. Do you really think I could get an entire sex-change operation in the span of one night?"

"Then how the hell did this happen?"

"You seem awfully interested. Are you worried about me?" Izaya giggled, earning an annoyed grumble from the other man. "Believe it or not, I visited a website with a chat-bot who turns out to be a genuine sorceress." He noticed Shizuo listening intently, so he put away his flickblade and continued explaining. "She said she would grant me one wish, so I asked her for something I wanted. Next morning, I got this body instead."

Shizuo snickered, "Serves you right. It's punishment for all the messed up crap you've been doing."

Izaya ignored him and walked past him. Shizuo quickly turned around, grasping the other's wrist.

"Hold it right there! You're not getting away!"

"Sorry to let you down, but I don't have time to deal with you today." Izaya tried to pull his wrist free, but realized that his arms were more slender and less strong. So just for kicks, he put on an irresistible puppy-dog expression which got the strongman to let go of his wrist immediately. He pulled his lips into a smirk.

"Hmm?" He stood on his tip-toes to move his face inches away from Shizuo's; the other man began to fluster again. "Could it be that Shizu-chan can't attack me now that I'm a girl?"

Shizuo angrily stuttered.

"_I see_," Izaya thought, "_This is the defense against Shizu-chan that Circe granted me. How sickly humourous."_

"That female body just isn't you," Shizuo rationalized, "So, I can't attack you now until you change back. It's fair that way."

Izaya blushed for an instant, taken aback, but forcefully regained his composure. "Oh! How chivalrous! But you know me better – I don't play fair, right?"

"You do it your way, and I'll do it mine!" Shizuo pointed his finger at him to get his point across. "But don't take it the wrong way! If you start a fight with me even as you are now, I'll kick your ass. I just won't deliberately attack you; that's all."

Izaya blinked, then smiled before turning around to leave the alleyway. "Heeeh? I'm really at an advantage."

"Where are you going now?" Shizuo asked in annoyance.

"Back to my apartment to find books that probably have information on how to turn me back." He titled his head sideways, finding Shizuo following behind. "Oh my, why are you coming along, Shizu-chan?"

"Stop calling me that," He grumbled and lit a cigarette. "And I'm following you just in case you suddenly turn back into a man. That way, I can kill you right on the spot." He puffed out some smoke and grinned malevolently. "I have _all_ day."

Izaya giggled, "Well, hold on to your hat, because you might be following me around forever. I should take this opportunity to lead you into a huge ditch."

"Try me."

"This is why I absolutely hate you, Shizu-chan."

III

Shizuo actually followed Izaya back to his dwelling. It felt quite awkward, like they were in an entirely different dimension. Izaya unlocked the door to his apartment and they both entered.

The informant pranced over to the bookshelves and fingered the various spines.

"This is the first time I 'invited' you into my habitat. It's unsettling." While searching through the books with one hand, he used his other hand to point a reprimanding finger at Shizuo. "Oh right, don't touch anything – you'll break them."

"Hmph!" Shizuo turned his head everywhere to eye the office. To him, the decor was surprisingly ordinary.

"Here we go! 'Greek Deities' – now let's see…" The informant exclaimed and proceeded to flip through the pages of the book he found.

Shizuo couldn't help but watch as Izaya flipped through every page intently. When he was not doing something messed up, Shizuo thought, Izaya did seem quite cute. But he dismissed the thought - he only felt that way because Izaya's current feminine appearance has its charm. Or so he believed.

III

Hours passed by fast. Outside the large window was the view of the setting sun. Shizuo took one more puff from his third cigarette then put it out on the tea saucer on the table. He leaned back on the couch, eyeing Izaya from his periphery.

"Hmm. Nothing useful, after all." Izaya closed the book shut and put it back on the shelf. He walked over to his desk to turn on the laptop.

"What are you doing now?" Shizuo muttered lazily.

"I'm going back to the chat-bot website," he chirped, "Maybe there will be something."

Shizuo folded his indigo shades, putting them into his breast pocket; he walked over to Izaya and leaned over his shoulder to view the screen. A pleasant shiver traveled up Izaya's spine as he smelled the fresh tobacco scent off the blond man. Regardless, he managed to keep a poker face. He briefly cleared his throat and entered the website.

The page loaded just as it did the day before. The animated sketch of Circe appeared; so did the text box and golden-lettered message.

"Oh, Shizu-chan, I've got an idea – you can wish for me to return to a male!" Izaya exclaimed, "Since you're the only one here with one wish left."

Shizuo stared at the crafty informant, at the screen, then back at him.

"Che! I'm not stupid enough to fall for that. What if I end up just like you?" He folded his arms across his chest.

"My my, so you _do_ think," Izaya giggled.

While Shizuo huffed at the insult, a black spider suddenly scurried out from nowhere towards Izaya's hand on the desk. Izaya noticed it out of the corner of his eye and involuntarily jerked his hand away. It continued to scurry towards Izaya's body, so he slowly got up from his chair.

"_What's wrong with me?_ _Why do I feel so scared of that puny, little thing? _" Izaya thought to himself. _"I usually don't care about spiders. Could it be a side effect of being in this female body?"_

"Ooooh, so you're afraid of spiders."

Izaya stiffened – he momentarily forgot Shizuo was with him. The bartender chuckled maliciously.

"Of course not." A bead of sweat formed at his temple. "I could care less about these lit-AAAAH!"

Shizuo had taken the spider in his hand and threw it at Izaya's feet. He burst out in laughter and squished his eyes in mirth as he watched Izaya jump around with a high-pitched scream. Izaya quickly ran around the timid spider to Shizuo who was holding his stomach in laughter. Izaya slammed his fists repeatedly at Shizuo's chest like an upset girlfriend hitting her boyfriend for pulling a mean prank on her.

"That was so mean, Shizu-chan! I really hate you!" Izaya turned beet-red from embarrassment.

"Eh heh heh!" Shizuo finished laughing, taking a deep exhale while Izaya kept hitting his chest.

The former bartender gazed at Izaya whose eyes were squished shut and tears streamed out from the corners. There was also a tinge of light red across his cheeks.

He really _is_ cute, Shizuo thought to himself. Unintentionally, his arms wrapped around Izaya's small figure; he put enough force into the embrace to tuck Izaya's arms onto his chest so that he would stop hitting him.

"Ok, ok, ok. I'm sorry," Shizuo chuckled.

Izaya sniffled, then whimpered while tightly clenching onto Shizuo's dress shirt. He eased into the embrace and indulged in the taller man's warmth. For that moment, the feelings that he was hiding surfaced completely.

After a few seconds, they both registered their positions at the same time. They jerked their heads up to stare at each other, but neither let go of the other. The sun was now fully below the horizon, and the laptop screen flickered.

All of a sudden, a rosy glow enveloped Izaya. Before either could make a reaction, Izaya shot up six more inches in height; his face smashed into Shizuo's and their lips forcefully came in contact. Shizuo's eyes widened; Izaya was fully back in his male form.

They ripped away from each other's kiss and embrace. Both covered their mouths with the palms of their hands in shock. They silently gaped at one another like mirror images.

IIII

**Author's Note: **Next chapter, Celty and Shinra make an appearance! Expect a nice make-out scene with Shizuo and Izaya (male form) next chapter. OH, by the way, all romantic interaction between the two will be with Izaya in his male form. So it's strictly BL, no worries. Haha.


	3. The Stupid Fairytale

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Durarara or any of its characters. This fanfiction is for entertainment purposes only.

**Author's Note**: HEY! I'm on Deviantart too. I post my stories there too along with my artwork. My username is Lifurin.

**Warning**: Yaoi, boys love, BL between Shizuo and Izaya (in his male form).

**Chapter 3: The Stupid Fairytale**

_I love all humans, thus all humans should love me! But if someone were to love me romantically…I wouldn't know how to return those feelings. So, how can I even love someone romantically?_

"Er-uh-you're…you changed back!" Shizuo desperately tried to draw their attentions away from what just happened.

"Hmm." Izaya looked down his own body; he was in male attire. Further, his chest was completely flat – he patted his chest area to inspect. "Yup, you're right, I'm back."

"But how come?" Shizuo reflected a bit then snapped into realization. "Wait - that doesn't matter! You changed back!" His pensive frown lifted into a murderous grin. "You changed back…to a _MAN._"

Izaya blinked in confusion before it dawned on him. With a nervous chuckle, he side-stepped towards the office door.

"I appreciate you coming over, Shizu-chan. Having you as a guest was quite an experience – especially the kiss."

Shizuo flustered immediately and blabbered incoherently, to which the crafty informant took the chance to race to the door. Izaya hastily swung the door open, dashing out into the hallway. Shizuo roared in rage and rushed out after him.

The bartender almost leapt into the street as he exited the building. He looked everywhere frantically; alas, Izaya escaped yet again. Moreover, the feeling of Izaya's lips crushing onto his own was still fresh in his mind. All this left him in frustration, which can be heard in his furious howl that echoed all over the street.

III

Izaya spent hours loitering in South Ikebukuro before he decided to go home. He took the risk of returning to his apartment even though Shizuo might still be there waiting for him. Luckily for him, the strongman was nowhere to be found. After buying a can of cola from the vending machine, he went back up to his dwelling. Taking a sip of cola, he released a satisfied sigh and licked his lips.

At that moment, he recalled the day's events, blushing profusely. Almost immediately, he shook off the feeling.

"Ah…what am I doing? That sorceress really did something to me." He chuckled haughtily to himself then placed a finger on his chin in thought. "Speaking of which, I thought this 'defense' that she granted me would last much longer. What gives?"

II

The next morning, rain pattered onto Izaya's bedroom window. He groaned at the disrupting noise and read the clock: it was 4:23 A.M. – two minutes until the time the sun rises. He sighed through his nose then closed his eyes again in an attempt to sleep.

Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, the same rosy glow as before enveloped his body. His eyes groggily opened as the glow began to fade. Cautiously, he reached up to his hair and ran his fingers through the…long strands?

He scowled tiredly and decided to deal with it after he had his fill of sleep.

III

10: 44 A.M.: Izaya looked at himself in the reflective surface of a store window – it was like déjà vu. He rolled over a couple of theories mentally of why he changed back to a girl. There was one that he felt was very plausible, but he needed to wait a few more hours to confirm it.

Hungry for something to do to kill time, he marched down to Ikebukuro. Near a quiet park, he spotted Celty zooming to a stop on her motorbike – Shinra rode on the back seat. Izaya observed the couple from a distance. They have grown even more lovey-dovey since the last time he saw them. Apparently, the two seemed to be taking a stroll in the park.

Izaya had the sudden urge to see if Celty, a netherworld being, would recognize him. He pranced over to the couple.

"Hey Celty, while were out here, let's go for lunch somewhere!" Shinra suggested jovially.

"Sure. I haven't been to a restaurant with you in a while," The headless rider typed onto her phone.

"Well, that's because you don't need to eat, so- huh?"

The couple stopped in their tracks. Izaya stood before them with his hands neatly folded in front of him. He batted his eyelashes twice.

"Would you happen to know where I can get discount sushi?" He asked.

Celty tilted her helmet to the side; if she had eyes, they would be squinting skeptically. She knows she has seen this girl before.

"There is a great Russian sushi place in Ikebukuro. You can check there," she typed onto her phone and showed it to Izaya.

"My, you are very knowledgeable," Izaya chirped as he read the text.

Celty froze as she began to have an idea of where she had seen this girl before. Moreover, the particular feeling that she was sensing from that girl was uncomfortably familiar. Shinra gaped at the two back and forth. Celty hurriedly typed onto her phone and showed the text. Izaya began reading.

"Have I met you somewhere? You seem awfully similar to Orihara Izaya. A relative, perhaps?"

"_Sharp as ever; but she is still slower than Shizu-chan." _Izaya spoke to himself mentally while chuckling in satisfaction.

"EHH?" Shinra jumped in surprise when he read the text, then eyed Izaya all over. "That can't be. Or…could it?" He squinted skeptically, adjusting his glasses to get a better look.

"Oh my! Please don't stare at me like that! I'm a very shy girl!" Izaya covered his cheeks with his hands in sarcastic embarrassment.

"Gah! I'm sorry." Shinra backed away sheepishly then whispered to Celty. "There is a slight resemblance, but I think it's just our imagination."

Celty glanced at the mysterious girl, then nodded to Shinra.

"Well, sorry for keeping you. Have a nice day." She typed onto her phone.

"Not at all; Thank you!" Izaya waved cheerfully.

As the couple walked away, Celty turned her head around to stare at Izaya. She just could not shake off that feeling of familiarity. Once she turned around facing forward, the informant giggled to himself, exceptionally amused.

III

It was noon; 12:24 P.M. to be exact. Celty dropped off Shinra back at their apartment, telling him that she forgot to do something. Subsequently, she drove her bike towards Izaya's home.

After a few minutes, she was a couple of blocks away from Izaya's apartment. Conveniently, she spotted him on the sidewalk across the street. She did a U-turn and caught up to the informant. Izaya stood on the spot, surprised at the headless rider's appearance.

"Oh! Celty! Fancy meeting you again," he chirped.

Celty quickly typed onto her phone and showed it to him. "I don't remember telling you my name."

And surely she did not. Izaya forgot again that he was girl for now who was pretending to not know anyone. Quickly, he made an attempt to defend himself.

"But I heard your partner call you 'Celty' back there."

"Cut the act, Izaya. I know it's you." She typed firmly.

The informant briefly frowned then smiled sheepishly. "A Dullahan's intuition, I gather?"

III

The two made their way to a nearby park that was empty. Izaya put his hands into the pockets of his shorts, leaning against a tree. Celty listened attentively as he explained to her what had happened.

"Circe's powers are weakest during the night. She is the daughter of Helios, the Sun God, after all." Celty typed. "-Which may be why you turn into a girl only during the day."

"That is my guess exactly. Hmm, coming from a fellow netherworld being, it's becoming more certain." Izaya smiled. "Now it's just a matter of finding how to turn me back into a man permanently."

"Beats me; it might be related to your wish. This is an odd side effect to your wish, by the way. Just what exactly did you wish for?"

"That, my dear," Izaya lifted his index finger up to his lips, "Is a secret - unless you would pay me a fair sum for the information. Say, One million yen?"

Celty tilted her helmet to the side. "It must be a very dark secret." She decided to taunt the informant a little. "Anyway, you deserve this treatment. You should take this opportunity to get in touch with your feminine side, which possibly is less of an ass."

"Now that's just mean. You guys say the same things."

"You 'guys'? Who else knows your condition?" Celty queried.

Izaya was about to respond; instead, he took two steps back while displaying a bubbly smile. The headless rider eyed him in confusion, then…

CRASH!

A park bench flew right past them and wrecked the cement. Dusty smoke engulfed their legs. Celty looked to her left and found Shizuo murderously marching towards them.

"Izaaaya-kuuun!" Shizuo called out in a raspy voice.

"Oh! Shizu-chan! You found me!" Izaya chirped confidently.

Shizuo stopped dead when he got a clearer look at him. He was speechless with shock

"Why the hell did you change back to a girl again?" He angrily pointed at his nemesis.

"Why do you say it like I do it voluntarily? Nevermind that. It looks like you can't attack me anymore, my _chivalrous_ knight." Izaya curtsied.

Shizuo snarled ferociously through his teeth. His angered expression changed to a baffled one when Celty stepped in front of him.

"Celty? When did you come here?"

"I was here the whole time." She jabbed the keyboard on her phone irritably. "When did you know about Izaya's condition? What is this about you not being able to attack Izaya?"

Shizuo stuttered. Izaya twirled around to come in between them, bumping the blond man away with the side of his hip.

"Shizu-chan was the _first_ one to recognize me, you know! He's so wonderful; he is quite the gentleman!" Izaya exclaimed. "He said that just because I'm a girl now, he won't atta-mnh!"

The infamous strongman quickly covered Izaya's mouth with his hand and locked his arm around him to pull him away.

"I'm gonna beat this dumbass elsewhere! Ha-ha." Shizuo explained to Celty while dragging the protesting informant away. "Catch you later, homie!"

As the muffled complaints were heard further and further away, Celty was left dumbfounded watching the two. She felt that she didn't need to stop their fight this time. The deadly aura that should be there whenever the two met was very faint; both of their attitudes were also unusual somehow. Although, it just may be her imagination, or so the Dullahan thought.

III

Shizuo dragged Izaya as far as he could from attention, with Izaya flailing his legs in the air. Just when they entered a more-or-less quiet area, Izaya slammed the heel of his knee-high leather boot into Shizuo's shin. The strongman grunted in pain, letting his captive go.

Izaya breathed heavily from his struggling. "Sheesh! Shizu-chan, you're too rough."

"Cut the crap, dumbass!" Shizuo massaged his shin. "Now talk. Why did you-_urgh_ HOW COME you turned back into a girl?"

Izaya couldn't help but smile, and genuinely this time – unlike those crafty smiles.

"I don't know. It's Circe doing all this." He pointed a stern finger at him. "If you're impatient, go to the website to wish me back into a man permanently."

"Go to hell."

"Or, just kill me now. I'm wide open."

At that suggestion, Shizuo regained a deadly glare in his eyes; it got Izaya tensed for a moment. However, he only fixed his shades up the bridge of his nose, closer to his eyes and uttered a dismissive "Hmph!"

Izaya giggled. "Gee, Shizu-chan, how long can you keep up this chivalry?"

"Isn't there some sort of time pattern when you change back? Like those stupid fairy tales where a princess turns into a monster at night."

"_Why does he keep impressing me like this?_" Izaya chuckled away that thought. "What a horrible analogy." He began eyeing his surroundings for an opening to escape. "Even if there was a pattern, I wouldn't tell you about it."

Finally, he found a pathway to his right; inch by inch, he moved closer to it.

"Well, this is the longest I've talked with you. I'm done gathering info for myself here. See you later, _mm-muah_!"

Izaya blew a wet kiss at the blond man and ran off as fast as he could. Shizuo's eye twitched as his face turned red.

III

5:31pm: Shizuo grumpily walked down the crowded streets of Ikebukuro. It was just so frustrating to have his nemesis at a position of disadvantage. Then he pondered: there were just far too many openings for him to kill Izaya. Was this condition really something hindering him from attacking him? The more he rationalized, the angrier he got, which just lead to irrational thinking.

"This is so annoying! It's his fault! I'm gonna kill him!"

Just when he was about to storm away, Celty drifted to a stop on her motorbike beside him.

"Oh, it's you. Yo." Shizuo sluggishly greeted her.

"You look down. Did Izaya get away again?" Celty typed on her phone.

Shizuo snorted. "As always; he has his tactics." He looked out his periphery and saw the Dullahan tilt her helmet to the side and cross her arms over her chest. He grumbled in defeat. "Ok, fine I admit, I did…_sort of_…let him go."

Celty pondered for a moment about what to say then typed on her phone again. "Why's that?"

"It feels weird to hit a girl; even if it's him."

"Is that really the case?"

"What do you mean?"

Celty typed on her phone; hit the backspace button; typed again; paused in hesitation; hit the backspace button a couple of times; typed something then finally showed her phone screen to the man.

"Look, if it makes you feel better, I think Izaya will turn back into a guy at sunset, temporarily. It's in cycles; daytime, he turns into a girl; nighttime, back to a guy."

Shizuo finished reading the text, his mouth dropped open.

"No, that does not make me feel better. At. All."

III

The bodyguard roamed around Ikebukuro, threatening and beating up people on the debt collector's list. After taking out his rage on them, he settled down at Simon's Russia Sushi restaurant. He regularly called out to the server to bring him a can of beer.

"It's a curse of sorts. There must be some way to break it," he muttered to himself. "Otherwise, I'll never have the state of mind to kill him ever again. And I need my revenge."

"Oh! That was an awesome twist in the story!"

Shizuo turned his head around to catch a glimpse of whoever yelled so loudly. As expected, Kadota and company were sitting at their own little table; Walker and Erika chatting about the latest manga or rpg. They were so loud sometimes that eavesdropping was inevitable.

"It's basically a fairytale, but manga-fied," Erika stated while Walker nodded in agreement. "Damsels in distress, princes in distress – it's the 21st century, remember?"

The strongman blinked. "Fairytales? Distress?" An idea fired in his brain. It may be a slight influence from alcohol, but Shizuo was determined to reach Izaya's apartment. He paid the bill and left the restaurant staggering a little.

III

6:21pm: Izaya sat in his chair, sipping a cup of tea while staring at the horizon out his window. He will not admit it, but his stomach was churning in anxiety. The sun was sliding onto the skyline like an egg yolk splattered onto a wall. In just a few more minutes, his female features should transform back into his male form. At least, that is what he predicts.

Beep beep!

Izaya blinked out of his thoughts from the sudden alarm of the doorbell intercom. He set down his tea and pranced over to it.

"I'm busy watching a giant egg yolk. Who is it?" He chirped into the intercom's receiver.

"Iz…Izaaaayaaaa. I-I found a curse for your cure," came a sluggish reply from the other end.

"Shizu-chan?" Izaya raised an eyebrow. "Oh my, do you miss me so much that you came all the way to my apartment?"

"Come down here ya flea! I'll get dis over wif, just yoo see…back to normal, I'll kick yer ass! Will cure yoo first, then kick yer ass!"

He is not making sense, thought the informant. He deducted that it could be some trap of sorts. But knowing Shizuo, the strongman is more of a direct, violent type without the brains for cunning tactics. So, he assumed it would be safe, then made his way to the main floor to see what the other man wanted.

When he reached the main floor, he found Shizuo slouched over, head against the wall. He tip-toed toward the other man, then tapped his shoulder. Shizuo gradually turned his whole body around with great effort; that's when Izaya saw the bright dash of red across the strongman's face.

"Ooooh, I get it. You're intoxicated. Tsk tsk." Izaya wagged his finger in a mock reprimanding manner.

III

He did not know why he did it - Izaya carried Shizuo back to his apartment and dropped him onto the couch. Maybe it was the effects of his condition that make him unable to resist helping a drunk Shizuo. He giggled in amusement.

"What's so funny?" Shizuo asked while letting out a long exhale.

"It's just that Shizu-chan's so helpless in this state." A teasing smirk plastered across his face.

The former bartender grumbled in annoyance, letting out a laboured exhale through his nose. Everything was wavy and made him dizzy, so he closed his eyes.

Izaya left the man on the couch, then returned with a warm, damp cloth. He sat next to Shizuo who sprawled himself out, head resting on a cushion. The informant removed the indigo shades from Shizuo's face and placed them on the coffee table. Gently, he pet the cloth over the drunken man's forehead to absorb the beads of sweat.

"Why are you so nice to me?" The former bartender mumbled.

"Just because," the informant was surprised himself – he wracked his brain for an answer. "I just feel like messing with you…I guess."

Shizuo felt Izaya get up from his seat and expected to hear him walk off somewhere. Instead, he heard nothing and felt like his personal space was being invaded. Shizuo heaved a long sigh through his nose, opening his eyes slowly.

Izaya had propped his head up with his arms and was gazing at the strongman with a cute smile.

Shizuo jumped a little. "What?"

"Noooooothing." The informant shook his head slowly. "Just - you're so mean, Shizu-chan!" He smacked Shizuo's arm playfully. "There you are trying to kill me all the time, but you're actually thinking about me – finding a 'curse for my cure'. You make me so giddy!"

"Shut up."

"So? What is this 'cure' you came up with?" Izaya sat back next to Shizuo's sprawled out body.

The former bartender rubbed his eyes in discomfort, then blinked a little to get a clearer (but still blurry) view of Izaya. Even with alcohol, he still felt a tad bit anxious. But the sight of Izaya sitting so close to him, with that genuine cute smile, fuelled his nerve.

"It's a stupid fairytale. You need a knight to save you…so, I'm here." Shizuo emphasized every syllable like he was out of breath.

Izaya smirked at the ridiculous babble coming from his drunk nemesis. "Come again?"

"You're a prince in distress, right?" Shizuo stumbled in labour to sit up. He groggily grasped Izaya's arms.

Izaya did not know why he could not move. He was frozen in place and let Shizuo pull him in closer. His eyes widened when his gaze was locked into the other man's golden irises.

"Izaya…"

Just as Shizuo gradually moved himself to kiss Izaya, the rosy glow circled around the informant once again.

Izaya glanced out the window to the horizon where a dash of faded orange now replaced the sun. The rosy glow diminished and he felt his body returned to that of a man. He then looked back at the blond man who leaned in and secured his lips. He gasped in surprise but still would not move away.

After a brief moment, Shizuo broke the kiss, leaning back sleepily to examine Izaya.

"See?" He muttered huskily, "You changed back."

Izaya sheepishly thought of a quick response to fill in the silence. When he did, he forced a cunning smile. "Well, of course I did, but that wasn't the reaso-"

Shizuo had leaned in to kiss him again. Izaya's heart skipped many beats as the other man pulled him into a full embrace and began massaging his lips with his own. For a brief moment, Izaya felt he needed to repel the blond man. But those feelings - they resurfaced again. And this time, they were far too overwhelming to push back into his subconscious.

Inevitably, Izaya closed his eyes to indulge in these romantic feelings. Since it has gotten like this, let us see where this goes – he thought to himself. Besides, Shizuo would not remember anything afterwards and Izaya seemingly lost control of his body, or so he thought. He returned the kiss longingly with a soft moan, which just excited Shizuo more.

The strongman sighed into the kiss, slipping the other man's trademark black coat off. Izaya tossed it behind him before sliding his arms around to Shizuo's back; he grasped onto his bartender vest tightly and pulled him down until he fell on top of him.

Shizuo broke the long kiss to take a deep breath. Subsequently, he bent down to plant small kisses on Izaya's lips then hovered over him.

"You…you know, why do ya wanna be an asshat? You're very cute…when you wanna be." He sleepily muttered, to which Izaya blinked. "But-but don't tell ANY one. 'Cause…because…"

He dropped his head down on Izaya's shoulder. "Because I'll hunt you down and hurt you real bad…if you do." He managed to mumble into the other man's ear before he drifted off to sleep.

A shiver danced on the nape of Izaya's neck where Shizuo breathed into. With a blank expression on his face, he gently got out from under Shizuo and sat up. After a short while of composing himself, he covered his face with one hand, hysteria taking over.

His face glowed a rosy pink and he began laughing quietly.

III

**Author's Note: **Hope you all are enjoying the story so far. Please leave a review! Much more love scenes to come!

And I apologize for the "III" as breaks. Fanfiction erases my subtler breaks…so I had to put in the "III" instead.


	4. Snowdrop

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Durarara or any of its characters. This fanfiction is for entertainment purposes only.

**Author's Note**: So, the Orihara twins will make a cameo in this chapter. For those who do not know, they are Izaya's younger twin sisters. They appear in episode 25 of the anime.

**Warning**: Yaoi, boys love, BL between Shizuo and Izaya (in his male form).

**Chapter 4: Snowdrop**

The lamps in the apartment dimly lit the room to a warm glow. Izaya placed Shizuo's head onto his lap, stroking the blond man's cheek with his thumb. He was lost in thought. However, the tingly numbness in his thighs snapped him back to reality. He looked over to the clock which read 8:01 pm – he was sitting like this for almost two hours.

He decided that before he gets up to stretch, he would give one last peck on Shizuo's lips. Slowly, he bent down, shut his eyes and grazed the other man's mouth. Indulging in these feelings, he thought, was not so bad after all. He lifted himself up, letting his eyes flutter open; then he nearly squeaked in surprise.

Shizuo stared back at him with a mix of sleepiness, annoyance and alarm. Izaya regained his composure to the best of his abilities, straining a smirk, looking everywhere but at Shizuo.

"I thought you were asleep? Heh." The informant managed to say without stuttering. He rested his arms casually on the top of the sofa.

"I was." Shizuo raised an eyebrow, then sat up next to him.

Izaya drummed his fingers on the sofa awkwardly while the other man rubbed his dark circles.

"Dammit," Shizuo sighed, "It feels like someone threw a convenience store trash can at my head."

"Ohoho! Now you know how it feels." Izaya teased, to which Shizuo shot him a brief death glare. He eyed the strongman out of his periphery and saw that he was now rubbing his temples irritably. "Do you want some hot water…or tea?" The offer just slipped out of his mouth.

Shizuo stopped rubbing his temples, turned to look at Izaya and supported his head with the palm of his hand. He pondered for a moment about the crafty man potentially putting drugs or poison in his drink. He was craving something warm to drink – his head was hammering in pain too. So his disorganized thoughts lead him to figure that he can kill his nemesis later if he poisoned his drink.

"Tea, please," he answered back.

Izaya nodded, stood up and made his way to the kitchen. On his way, he bent down to grab his trademark coat, subsequently throwing it onto the couch. Shizuo eyed it, remembering a little bit of what happened two hours ago. In an instant, he flustered uncomfortably – unsure of whether it actually happened or if it was just a nasty dream. But then he was sure it actually did happen because Izaya, didn't he just…?

The informant returned with two steaming teacups. He set one on the coffee table in front of Shizuo and sat himself next to him.

"You're lucky!" He chirped, "I brewed a fresh pot moments before you came, so I just microwaved it instead of having you wait for the water to boil."

Shizuo grunted in acknowledgement, sipping the tea slowly. He sighed in satisfaction. Maybe it was the alcohol still in his system talking, or the pressure of silence between the two. But he could not hold back what he was about to say.

"Can't believe I lost my first two kisses to not only a man, but my sworn enemy."

Izaya stared at him blankly with a tinge of pink on his cheeks; Shizuo stared back. The former bartender babbled incoherently while Izaya broke into a snicker.

"That wasn't supposed to come out!" Shizuo tried to defend himself.

The informant made it seem like he was laughing in a taunting manner at the other man. In fact, he was all delighted inside. "You lost your first kiss to me," he chuckled, "I've never kissed anyone else before either."

"Wait, so you lost your first kiss to me too?"

Izaya was losing his composure, but waved it off. At this point of his curse, he understood it is starting to be inevitable.

"_That…"_ He threw his head back in defeat while still laughing. "…wasn't supposed to come out either."

Both men paused for a moment, then burst out in mirth which lasted for what felt like hours. Bizarre as it was, talking to each other like this, without the hate side of their coin, felt quite nice.

"This is getting too ironic. I mean, we're two grown men talking about first kisses. What are we? Middle school girls?" Izaya sighed in gratification.

Shizuo wiped a tear away from his eye. "Ha, speaking of girls, you're going to change into one again in the morning. I pity you."

"Oh, so you figured out that it's in cycles. Hey, I'm a man again for now. Why aren't you attacking me?"

"Huh? Uh, well…" He pondered for an answer. "As I said before, you're in an abnormal condition. I'll wait 'til you're a man 24/7. Then, I'll beat your sorry ass." He pointed a reassuring finger at the other man.

"Because Shizu-chan plays it fair, right?"

"Whatever."

They swung their heads to the side, accidentally coming into eye contact with each other. Before they knew it, the atmosphere just became far too weird for their tastes. Shizuo gulped; Izaya just stared blankly.

"Dammit, I'm going back to work." He grabbed his shades and got up to the doorway with the informant momentarily following behind. "I can't wait 'til you turn back so that I can kill you. There has to be a way to reverse it all. I'll think about it."

"Oh! My hero! I should give you some sort of _reward_ if you do find a way." Izaya winked suggestively.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Shizuo grumbled irritably with a glow of pink on his cheekbones. He unfolded his shades and slid them into place on the bridge of his nose.

"Well, good ni-" They both said at the same time, to which they awkwardly paused. Come to think of it, they have never greeted or gave a farewell to each other in a friendly manner before. Shizuo did not know how to go about it.

"Catch ya la- see you aroun-uh…take care-urgh! BYE!" Shizuo growled before turning tail and marching away.

Izaya snickered amusedly, resting his arm on the doorway. He watched the other man walk away, and when he could not see him in the distance anymore, he whispered:

"Good night."

III

Circe's powers were working like a charm. Izaya had never had so many encounters with Shizuo that didn't endanger his life. Plus, the female body cultivated much advantage in general. The crafty man was able to gather information more efficiently now that his enemies could not recognize him.

Nevertheless, the female body does have its inconveniences. Like, he can only communicate verbally to his clients at night when he is in his original male form. Not only that.

All the gentleness that he was able to bring out of Shizuo – was it because he likes him as a girl? If he manages to break Circe's spell, would Shizuo really start to hunt him down again? These thoughts were getting out of hand. He never thought about these things until he switched to a female body. The effects have begun to annoy him, so he decided it was better to turn back. He desperately searched all over for information on a potential spell-breaker.

He sat in his home for hours, reading through his collection of Homer's Odyssey - whatever chapter that even remotely mentioned Circe. At one point, he found a plausible solution to his condition.

"The Moly herb." He grinned in gratification.

III

The afternoon streets were crowded with people. Shizuo lazily strolled around Ikebukuro, hands in his pockets, in deep thought of a solution for changing Izaya back. His pondering was interrupted when he caught sight of the informant, in his female form, prancing into a flower store. Curious, he followed him.

He stood close enough to the entrance to overhear Izaya's conversation with the store clerk.

"Excuse me, do you have any Snowdrops?" He chirped.

"Snowdrops?" The store clerk raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, we don't carry those."

"Oh, alright." Izaya shrugged before whirling around and skipping to the entrance.

Shizuo quickly ran behind a nearby vending machine, spying the informant leave the store and head down the street. He decided to follow along quietly. They went to almost 5 flower stores all over Ikebukuro – all of which did not carry this "Snowdrop" flower that Izaya wanted. The blond man began to wonder why he wanted such a plant.

Once Izaya exited another store, Shizuo hid behind a nearby truck. When the strongman peaked out the edge to see where he had gone, he lost sight of him. Just then, someone tapped his shoulder and he swung around swiftly in surprise.

"Shizu-chan?" The informant tilted his head to the side and let out a delighted smile. "Oh no! I'm so cute now that you're stalking me!"

Shizuo frowned. "I swear I'd punch you if you didn't look like this right now."

Izaya chuckled. "Well, did you find a possible solution for my problem?"

"I haven't."

"So _incompetent_." He jokingly stated, eliciting a violent grumble from the other man. "Before you go on a rampage, I'll let you know I found a possible cure."

The strongman's eyes widened, beckoning him to continue explaining.

"Circe's powers can be inhibited by a plant called the 'Moly herb'. It's actually a flower called the 'Snowdrop', which so far can't be found in any flower store here."

"It's not like it's a rare plant. It has to be available somewhere in Japan…" Shizuo scratched his head. He grunted irritably. "Whatever flower this is, I'll find it! You have my cell number, right?"

Izaya stood dumbfounded at how enthusiastic his nemesis was to help him; he nodded briefly afterwards.

"Alright then, whoever finds it first will call the other."

With that, the strongman ran off in the distance. Izaya blushed profusely. Shizuo actually saved his number…

III

The former bartender has been around Ikebukuro a lot, so he knows where all the flower stores are. He went to almost each corner of the district, but still could not find the Snowdrop in any of their inventories. How does the Snowdrop look like anyway? He threw that thought aside as impatience took over him. For his last resort, he went to the train station, taking it so far as to go to another district to find it. But before he even made it to the train station, he heard his name being called in the distance.

"Shizuo-san!" Two girls cried out to the blond man before running to him.

"Oh, Mairu and Kururi," He responded to the twin sisters.

Mairu was just as cheerful, and Kururi was just as quiet – they were quite different than their brother, Izaya.

"Hey hey! Did you get in touch with Yuuhei-san?" Mairu bounced happily in front of him.

"Oh no, not this again," Shizuo sighed, "Kasuka is busy, and so am I. I'm glad to see you both, but, just leave us alone to do our work."

Mairu pouted. "Oh come on, if you're too busy to even call him, give us his cell number!" The strongman turned away from her each time she tried to stand in his way. "We'll call him ourselves. Hey! C'mon, what do you say?"

"Hey, do you girls know where I can find a Snowdrop flower?" He tried to dodge her question with one of his own. It couldn't hurt to try.

"Snowdrop?" Kururi interjected. "Yes, we grow them in our training facility's garden."

Immediately, Shizuo became extremely attentive. "Really?! That's convenient - can you give me like 2 or 5 of them?"

The twin girls looked at each other skeptically. "Why?"

The former bartender did not know what came over him to make him so desperate to get hold of those flowers.

"Uhh…Kasuka wants some! But he couldn't find any."

"Yuuhei-san?!" Both girls' eyes lit up in an instant. Mairu held Shizuo's hand with hope written all over her face, she reassured him. "I could give him the whole garden if he wanted!"

"Like I said," Shizuo gently shook his hand out of her grip, "2 or 5 of them is fine."

"Yes sir! Stay right here and we'll bring them to you in a jiffy!" Mairu saluted in obedience, followed by Kururi imitating her. She took hold of her sister's hand and they ran off jovially.

Shizuo breathed a sigh of relief.

III

The blond man lit up a cigarette in waiting, leaning against a billboard. The twins were taking their sweet time. Shizuo wagered they were still picking every single flower from their garden – it worried him just a little bit. Regardless, as long as he gets one Snowdrop before sunset, nothing else mattered.

Just then, Celty appeared before him, gliding to a stop on her motorbike. She fanned herself with her hand.

"Haha, yo. Working hard?" Shizuo puffed out some smoke.

"Ugh, hey," the Dullahan greeted with her phone. "Some guy wanted me to deliver a couple of things back and forth. I'm SO glad it's finally done."

The strongman chuckled and nodded in acknowledgement.

"So, are you taking a break?" Celty typed onto her phone and showed the screen to him.

"Nah. I'm waiting for some friends to bring me a few Snowdrops." He explained.

Celty was taken aback. "You mean the flower? What do you want with those?"

"Apparently, they could cure Izaya's condition, 'cause Circe's allergic to them or something. And Circe turned him into a girl, you know?" He informed the Dullahan who tilted her helmet to the side in confusion and suspicion. Shizuo realized this, so he quickly thought up a further explanation. "Uh-er…I'm planning on throwing them onto that flea, and if he turns back to a man, I'll kill him right on the spot. Yeah," He nodded to his own reasoning, "Thing is, I have to test it before sunset, but those friends of mine aren't going to make it back in time, most likely." He grimaced.

"Of course…! Circe's powers are said to be weakened by Snowdrops," Celty typed, "you know, I grow a few on my balcony. I brought them back from where I came. I'll give you a lift to my place to give you some."

"Seriously?" Shizuo removed the cigarette from his mouth.

"Yes, get on," She created a black helmet and threw it at him. "B-but, if the Snowdrops do work, don't seriously kill Izaya, please. No matter how annoying he is, I don't want to see people I know die."

"I'll do my best," Shizuo promised as he sat on the back seat. Though, he might actually commit to that promise more than he thought.

III

At Celty and Shinra's apartment, Celty snipped a Snowdrop from the bunch on her balcony. Shinra kept asking questions out of curiosity, which the Dullahan ignored completely. With her smoky shadows, she created a pinky-sized water vessel to stick to the end of the flower. It should preserve it for a couple of hours. Shizuo thanked her and left the apartment in a hurry.

"Hey~ hey~ Celty, what's going on?" Shinra begged her to answer.

The woman waved her hands in a gesture to tell her lover to calm down. Then she typed onto the keyboard of her phone.

"I could tell you what's going on, but DON'T tell anyone else."

III

The sun was three-quarters on its way down to the west. Shizuo grew anxious; he reached into his pocket for his cellphone while he briskly walked down the block aimlessly. He flipped it open and was about to call Izaya. Instead, Izaya called him.

"Oh – hey," he answered, "You found the Snowdrop for yourself?"

"Nope. It really is hard to find. Did you?" The informant chirped on the other side.

"Hmph! Look who's incompetent now," Shizuo triumphantly smirked. "I have one in my hand right now. Where are you?"

There was no answer from Izaya; the former bartender waited for a response.

"Hello? Hey…did the bastard hang up?" He took the phone away from his ear to examine it, then turned around.

There, he saw across the street was Izaya, stupefied in place, cellphone held up to his ear, eyes wide and staring at Shizuo with…a touched expression on his face?

The strongman was taken aback – he never saw Izaya like that ever before. He flipped his cellphone closed and crossed the street to him.

"Here, you uh, wanna test it out?" He handed the Snowdrop to Izaya who gazed at it momentarily before locking his gaze with Shizuo.

The informant's eyes were glittering – highlighted by the rosy tint on his cheekbones. Shizuo could not resist thinking that he was…quite adorable like this-and kept reassuring himself that he felt this way just because Izaya was a girl right now.

"Shizu-chan…" But then Izaya's eyes became a bit watery – Shizuo flustered in surprise; he lost his grip on the flower and dropped it.

The blond man fumbled in disorient, then got down on one knee to pick up the Snowdrop. He raised the flower up to Izaya.

"C-come on, what's wrong? I found it for you, s-so take it," he muttered.

Izaya's bottled emotions leaked out like a popped champagne bottle. He went into a trance and let out a genuine smile again. Then he reached out for the Snowdrop.

"Shizuo-san?!"

Both Izaya and Shizuo snapped out of their trance. Without even looking, they recognized the voices.

"Mairu," Shizuo muttered with his eye twitching.

"Kururi." Izaya tensed up.

The twin girls had bouquets of finely wrapped Snowdrops in their arms. They approached the two and glanced at both of them.

"Ooooh! You lied Shizuo-san!" Mairu pouted. "It's not Yuuhei-san who wants these flowers. It's you! You just want to pick up girls with them!" She pointed at Izaya.

Izaya and Shizuo looked at each other. The strongman realized that he was still down on one knee, handing the Snowdrop to Izaya, which obviously looked suggestive. So, he stood up immediately and dusted off his vest awkwardly.

"Is that your girlfriend, Shizuo-san?" Kururi inquired while examining Izaya from top to bottom.

"Yeah, yeah, something like that." The former bartender then grunted in realization that he let that slip from his tongue.

Izaya briefly gave him one of his trademark smirks before facing the baffled girls with a bubbly smile. He waved his hand to them in a greeting gesture. Kururi pinched Mairu's yellow hoodie, pulling her closer to whisper.

"Odd…Shizuo-san's type - looks like Iza-nii(1)," Kururi held her stare at Izaya.

Mairu pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose to get a better view. "You're right Kuru-nee(2)!" She rubbed her chin as she pondered. "Could it be…" She gasped.

"_Relatives are sharp,"_ Izaya thought; he jerked his head to the side, gesturing for both him and Shizuo to leave quickly. "_I don't want to deal with these two in my current form; I presume you don't either._"

Shizuo subtly nodded in agreement, then snatched the bouquets from the twins and ran off as quickly as he can with Izaya.

"Thanks for the Snowdrops! I'll make it up to you two!" He cried back to them.

The girls speechlessly watched as the two kept getting farther and farther. On their way home, they kept consoling each other that they at least have something to blackmail their brother with.

III

Shizuo and Izaya ended up running into a quiet park where they stopped to catch their breath.

"Did…they follow?" Shizuo managed to say through laboured breaths.

Izaya looked over his shoulder. "No…" He sighed in relief.

Both collapsed on a park bench. When they caught their breath, Izaya looked over to Shizuo who was still holding the bouquets of Snowdrops in his hands. He did not know why he felt so warm and fuzzy inside just looking at the other man holding a bouquet. Shizuo caught sight of him, then remembered that he needed to give the Snowdrops to Izaya.

"Here, before the sun goes down." He passed the entire lot to him.

Izaya hugged the flowers, gazing down at each pure white bulb. He was not sure what to do. He lifted them up to smell – he did not change back; he rubbed one on his cheek – he did not change back. Finally, he knew that Snowdrops were poisonous if ingested in large amounts. But he tried it anyways – he licked one of them, but he still did not change back. As a last resort, he pulled off one of the petals and ate it, to which Shizuo grimaced in slight disgust. Alas, Izaya still did not change back.

"It doesn't work." The informant let out a high-pitched sigh, frowning until he looked like he was about to cry.

Once Shizuo caught sight of this, he fumbled everywhere before patting Izaya on the back in a soothing manner. This time, he realized what he was doing, but he could not help it for some reason. He mustered the most sympathetic smile he could do. Izaya looked up at him and found that the strongman was giving him a gentle smile; his heart skipped a beat.

Almost immediately after, a faint rosy glow encircled Izaya's body. Izaya and Shizuo looked over to the sun which was still well-above the horizon. They even checked the time on their cellphones which read 6:15pm – half an hour until the sun is completely set. They both know that Izaya would only transform back to male form when the sun is completely below the horizon.

"Could it be?" They both said in unison.

However, the rosy glow suddenly disappeared. They blinked at each other for a moment to register what had happened.

"You saw it too, right?" Shizuo pointed an irritable finger at Izaya, hoping to confirm that he was not seeing hallucinations. "It was that light that appears every time you change back!"

"I saw it too," Izaya responded. "But I'm still a girl."

Shizuo's eye twitched. He grasped the bundle of Snowdrops and shoved them forcefully onto Izaya's face.

"You need to smell them longer! Or eat every single one!" He growled.

Izaya whined, swatting the flowers away from his face. "Shizu-chan, you idiot! The flowers don't work!" He was losing his composure. "Snowdrops are poisonous in large quantities if eaten! I'm not going to eat every single one!"

"Agh! So what do we do?!" Shizuo angrily kicked the bench whose leg dented from the man's monstrous strength.

Izaya watched as the blond man breathed heavily. He felt upset too, but he would not allow it to show; especially not to his nemesis. So, he wore his usual haughty smile.

"Don't need to work yourself up so much. That light appeared before the sun set completely. We did something that almost changed me back. So there's still hope," He reasoned, eyeing the man out of his periphery. Shizuo seemed calm enough, so he continued. "Well, thanks for the flowers anyway. There's still the possibility that they are a cure, so I'll keep them in my apartment." He gathered the bouquets in his arms.

"Uh, yeah." Shizuo sighed. "We just need to figure out what we did."

Izaya subsequently stood up and pulled on Shizuo's sleeve with one hand, beckoning him to follow. "Let's go walk around the park, Shizu-chan! It will clear our heads so that we can think properly. Well, _I'll_ think properly at least." He bubbly teased as he skipped forward.

Shizuo released a "hmph!" and followed closely behind.

They circled the park for minutes, talking about the most trivial things, then going back to the topic of ideas for a spell-breaker. It was not before long that the sky turned a dark orange and the usual brighter rosy glow surrounded Izaya. As he pranced onwards, the informant's shorts lengthened to men's pants, his hair shortened drastically, and he grew taller by a couple of inches. Shizuo watched the informant's body transform back to his original male form.

When the light vanished, Izaya whirled around and gave Shizuo the cutest smile that he could muster. Shizuo could not help but chuckle himself.

III

"Well, I'm all out of ideas." Izaya gleefully skipped beside Shizuo, cuddling the large bouquet of Snowdrops. "Does this mean I have to live as a woman during the day and man at night for the rest of my life?...What a joke."

"I prefer you as a man." Shizuo muttered.

Izaya stared at him with a bewildered expression. It took a moment for Shizuo to register what he had said. Then he turned beet red and struggled to defend himself.

"What I mean is that-that I prefer you to be a man – your original, STABLE gender so that I can punch you again without holding back!"

"You're saying weird things again, Shizu-chan." Izaya chuckled.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, DAMMIT!" Shizuo snarled as he pushed his indigo shades closer to his face.

Izaya snickered before silence fell upon both men. He pranced alongside the blond man, staring at him out of his periphery. The more he looked at him, the greater the warm feeling tickled his heart. Finally, something triggered him to say it.

"Thanks for going through the trouble of getting these, huh?" He hugged the Snowdrops closer.

Shizuo glanced at him, then began fumbling with his shades.

"Whatever, it's fine."

The crafty man gazed at him carefully. Then a giant smirk spread across his face as he decided to tease the strongman for his own enjoyment.

"Shizu-chan, do you like me?"

The blond man skidded to a stop and swung his body around to face Izaya with a flat expression. "You have a face that I'd personally want to punch. Why would I like you?"

"Heh heh. Well, I noticed a recent habit of yours." the informant pointed a substantiating finger at him. "Every time you feel bashful, you fiddle with your sunglasses. Why would you feel bashful? Because you in fact, like me. _Romantically_."

"BULLSHIT!" Shizuo pushed his indigo shades up the bridge of his nose. "W-what kind of deduction is that?"

"See? You're doing it again." Izaya snickered.

"That's it, you ass!" The blond man launched a punch at the other man.

Izaya dodged from side to side, stepping back as Shizuo swung more punches at him. He laughed haughtily when Shizuo growled in frustration.

"Oh! What ever happened to chivalry, Shizu-chan?" He grinned.

"I'm not chivalrous to men, especially bullshit fleas like you!" Shizuo roared, punching out with each syllable.

Izaya kept spinning and ducking away from anything Shizuo threw at him. However, he lost his balance when dodging a subsequent high-kick from the blond man; he tripped a little before bending backwards to fall – to which Shizuo reached out fast to grab him from falling.

The strongman pulled him back up while the informant forced himself forward as well. The momentum made Izaya crash into his chest and Shizuo held him. Both men breathed a sigh of relief.

"Watch it, you dumbass! You could've cracked your skull wide open." The strongman reprimanded him.

Izaya gaped at him, uncontrollably blushing yet again. The other man wanted to ask him what he was staring at him for, but before he could say anything, Izaya hopped on his toes to kiss him.

Their lips were locked in place. Shizuo grunted in surprise and tried to pry the informant off of him. However, he gave up soon after when the other man kissed him more longingly. He did not know what possessed him to do it – he wrapped an arm around Izaya and caressed his back with the other, making his way up to run his fingers through the short strands of Izaya's hair.

The informant dropped the bouquet of Snowdrops to the ground, freeing his arms to wrap around Shizuo's neck. He pressed his chest onto the blond man's chest, allowing himself to feel both their hearts beating. In the middle of kisses, his eyes fluttered open when curiosity struck him for real this time.

He broke the kiss, moving his head back; Shizuo leaned in to continue, but Izaya placed a finger on his lips to stop him.

"Shizu-chan, do you like me?" Izaya asked breathily.

The repeated question actually did make the blond man think seriously for a moment. However, before he even found an answer, both men heard a high-pitched, fan-girlish squeal, startling them to find the source.

Shinra stood meters away, hands clasped together excitedly and eyes glittering in fascination. Celty was beside him; she turned her helmet away and covered the visor with one hand in embarrassment.

"Kyaaaaaaaa!" Shinra squealed again. "I saw EVERYTHING! This is such an exciting phenomenon! Izaya-kun, I must bring you and Shizuo-kun back to my place for further analysis!"

IIIIII

**Notes: **

(1)"_Iza-nii_" means "big brother Iza"; Izaya's twin sisters, Mairu and Kururi, address him this way.

(2) "_Kuru-nee_" means "Big sister Kuru"; Mairu addresses Kururi this way.


End file.
